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Nessarose Thropp
Nessarose Thropp is the name of the woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the East in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway adaptation, Wicked. She is the spoiled younger sister of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. In both the play and the novel, Elphaba is considered a pale second to her beautiful but handicapped sister, and is often expected to put Nessarose's needs before her own. In the novel, Nessarose and Elphaba have a younger brother named Shell. In both the novel and the musical, she is called by the nickname Nessa, although in the book, she also goes by Nessie. Nessarose, during her rule of Munchkinland, is dubbed "The Wicked Witch of the East", for her cruel ways and use of sorcery to control her subjects. In both the musical and the novel, Nessarose meets her demise when Dorothy Gale's house, carried by a cyclone, lands in Oz and crushes her. Life In the Novel In Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Nessarose is a very pious and religious character She was born without arms, presumably because of the medicine her mother took to prevent another child with the same odd appearances as the green-skinned Elphaba. Despite her condition, she is a dainty and beautiful girl, and when attending Shiz University, she more easily gains friends than her sister. She is raised in Quadling Country, and is constantly aided by Nanny because, without arms, she lacks proper balance. Nessarose, having extreme pious religious convictions (linking absolutely everything she sees to religion and morality), is often close-minded and vain, in following with Maguire's cynicism throughout the novel towards religion in general. Her religious dedication is so extreme as to cause even her father, the intensely jealous Frexspar, to worry that she may be "too devout". Unlike in the musical version, Nessarose is not infatuated with Boq, the Munchkin boy, and lives a solitary life. When Nanny is called to replace Ama Clutch as Elphaba and Glinda's chaperone at university, Nessarose joins her, and thus begins her college education a year earlier than she had originally planned. Along with Elphaba and Glinda, Nessarose is chosen by Madame Morrible to be an Adept – a trained sorceress, with political authority over a particular area, in Nessa's cases the South, Quadling Country. Like the other two girls, she rejects the position, but, again like her fellows, she eventually finds herself ruling a province of Oz, albeit a different one than Madame Morrible had suggested. When Elphaba drops out of college without a word to her, Nessa is both devastated and furious, and harbors resentment toward her sister for a long time. Glinda mentions that she helped Nessa through the aftermath of Elphaba's departure, and that the two became quite close. With Elphaba missing and presumed dead, Nessarose inherits her great-grandfather's title of "Eminent Thropp", and as the Eminence of the East, she makes Munchkinland its own country. During her reign in Munchkinland, despite her religious conviction, Nessa allows more ancient practices to take place – including ritualistic sacrifice, rumored to even include those of humans and Animals. In addition, despite originally having been opposed to magic on religious grounds, her reign as Eminence finds her practicing sorcery (though she still claims to be a devout Unionist, referring to her spells as "miracles in the honor of the Unnamed God"). Not all of her subjects are too afraid of her to ask for boons, however. In one scene, a woman asks her to prevent her daughter from marrying a local woodsman. Nessarose casts a spell on the woodsman's axe so that it will attack him and remove a limb. Nessarose is the original owner of the magical silver shoes (most commonly known as the ruby slippers from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz), given to her as a loving gift by her father, and later enchanted by Glinda (in the musical adaptation, the bewitched shoes are Elphaba's doing). These shoes allow Nessarose to walk and stand without assistance, and leave her overly confident and more proud, which only fuels her tyrannical reign over the Munchkins. In the novel, Elphaba sees the shoes as a lasting symbol of neglect and rejection from her father and from the world in general, as well as a sign of fear and later reverence from the citizens of Oz. It is Elphaba's quest to retrieve Nessarose's shoes from Dorothy that causes her demise, as she becomes obsessed with obtaining the objects that have always existed as a reminder to her unusual-ness. The story reveals that Nessarose may be the child of Turtle Heart, the Quadling glassblower who resided with the Thropps. However, in A Lion Among Men, in the family trees it is confirmed that Frex is Nessa's father. Nessarose's father, Frex, confesses as much to Elphaba after Nessarose's death, adding that he and his wife Melena loved Turtle Heart equally. The implications of that statement are, however, never fully developed. It is because of the questionable parentage of Nessarose that Frex loves her more than Elphaba, as if she had been conceived more of the love between the trio. Nessarose dies not knowing the debate over her parentage, or that her perhaps-father Turtle Heart was viciously sacrificed in a ritual similar to the ones she allowed her people to conduct. (It should be noted that Turtle Heart is a Quadling, and in L. Frank Baum's original novels, some Quadlings have no arms. This may be Maguire's way of affirming Nessarose's parentage for the readers without specifically stating it). Her death (which has been caused by another house landing on her own house) led several Ozians to come up with satirical slogans and witty catch phrases that strongly remind us of "There's no place like home." (Though not using the same words). In the Musical When Nessa first appears, her father, Frex, gives her silver shoes to wear as a parting gift, while giving Elphaba nothing. Nessa, feeling guilty, tries to talk to her sister but is waved off. Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Shiz, has decided that since she is in a wheelchair and the favorite daughter of Governor Thropp, it would be best for her to share Morrible's accommodations. No arrangements have been made for Elphaba, and Galinda accidentally offers to share her private suite. Elphaba is angry, as she has always looked after her sister. When Morrible tries to wheel Nessarose away, Elphaba uses her uncontrollable powers to bring her sister back to her. This impresses Morrible, who notes that Elphaba's talents may be of use to the Wizard of Oz; she promises to give Elphaba private sorcery lessons. Fiyero, a Winkie prince, arrives at Shiz and immediately impresses his own brand of cavalier, carefree living on the students, organizing a party at a local ballroom. Galinda convinces a Munchkin student named Boq to take Nessarose to the party, more to avoid unwanted attention from Boq than out of any desire to be kind. Nessa has a crush on Boq and is so overjoyed to be invited that she asks Elphaba if there is any way to repay what she perceives as Galinda's kindness. At the dance, Elphaba arrives wearing the hat Galinda had given her, only to be ridiculed and laughed at, embarrassing Nessa. Nevertheless, she defiantly proceeds to dance alone without any music. After the dance, Galinda and Elphaba talk in their room. Elphaba reveals that her father hates her because of her green skin and that he had forced her mother to eat milk flowers to ensure that Nessarose was not born the same. The milk flowers caused Nessa to be born early, crippling her, and their mother had died in childbirth. At the train station, Galinda, Nessa, Boq, and Fiyero see Elphaba off to the Emerald City. After Galinda says Boq will keep Nessa company during Elphaba's absence, Boq, claiming he can't "do this anymore" storms off angrily. Galinda tells Nessa that Boq might not be right for her, to which she replies that it is her that is not right. Elphaba arrives at the governor's residence in Munchkinland seeking refuge, after being on the run for several years after defying the Wizard during her trip to the Emerald City, reluctantly trying to ask her father for help. But Nessa, now the governor of Munchkinland, harshly reveals that he died of shame due to Elphaba's actions at the Emerald City. Nessa refuses to help hide a fugitive, citing her status as an unelected official, and criticizes Elphaba for not using magic to help her overcome her disability. To assuage her feelings of guilt, Elphaba enchants Nessa's jeweled shoes, turning them from silver to ruby red and enabling her to walk. Boq, who is now Nessa's servant, is summoned and reveals that a ball is being held for Glinda and Fiyero's engagement and he must go tell that his heart lies with Glinda. Furious, Nessa casts a mispronounced spell from the Grimmerie, causing Boq's heart to shrink. While Elphaba attempts to save him, Nessa reflects on how her obsession with Boq has led her to oppress the Munchkin people. Elphaba saves Boq by turning him into the Tin Woodman – horrified, Nessa lays the blame on Elphaba, knowing that Elphaba is leaving not to free the Monkeys, but to find Fiyero. This is her last live appearance, as she is soon after crushed by Dorothy's flying house caused by a tornado whipped up by Madame Morrible. Book to Musical Differences Like many other characters in the Broadway adaptation of Wicked, Nessarose is portrayed very differently from the novel. She was originally played by Michelle Federer. In the musical, Nessarose is not chosen as a sorceress by Madame Morrible, and while the character of the musical does have arms, she is instead bound to a wheelchair. As in the novel, she is seen as beautiful, but the adaptation presents her as a more tragic character, attending Shiz University with Elphaba, who often embarrasses her in her attempts to "make a difference". In an effort to shoo away a persistent love-struck Munchkin named Boq so that her own relationship with Fiyero can develop, Galinda arranges a date between him and Nessarose. Thereafter, Boq unhappily becomes a point of love obsession for Nessarose, unlike in the novel, where she had little contact with Boq. Because her father was governor of Munchkinland, Nessarose takes control of the province following his death, and during her rule, she slowly becomes evil and tyrannical. She enslaves Boq, and in an attempt to use Elphaba's spells to punishhim for professing his love for Glinda, accidentally causes his heart to disappear. As Elphaba begins to save Boq by turning him into the Tin Woodman, Nessarose declares herself 'The Wicked Witch of the East'. As in the novel, Nessarose receives the magical slippers as a gift from her father, but they are enchanted by Elphaba, rather than Glinda, to give her the ability to walk. The musical does not refer to Turtle Heart or Shell, and thus it is implied that Nessarose was the legitimate child of Frex and Melena. The musical also shows that it was Madame Morrible who created the fateful cyclone, as a trap to draw Elphaba out of hiding. It is also interesting to note that, in the novel, it is heavily hinted at that the Grimmerie comes from the other world (our world), and that Elphaba's ability to read only a portion of it is because of her half-human, half-Ozian birth. In contrast, in the musical, the Grimmerie is obviously a book from Oz (since it is stated that The Wizard cannot read it), though Elphaba is, once again, the only one who can read it (both Madame Morrible and Glinda admit that they either cannot or can only read very little). This would make Nessarose's ability to read it, albeit backwards, in the Wicked Witch of the East scene a bit incongruous. Songs Solos (In A Group Number) *Dancing Through Life (Fiyero, Glinda, Boq, Elphaba, and Students of Shiz) *Wicked Witch of the East (Elphaba and Boq)* Others *Dear Old Shiz (Glinda and Students of Shiz) *''Wicked Witch of the East is not on the Wicked Broadway Cast or any of the subsequent recordings.'' Portrayers Broadway Production *Michelle Federer (2003-2006, 2009-2010) *Cristy Candler (2006, 2007-2008, 2009) *Jenna Leigh Green (2006) *Brynn O'Malley (2008-2009) *Jenny Fellner (2010-2011) *Cristy Candler (2011-current) Broadway Understudies: Eden Espinosa (also Elphaba Standby), Shoshana Bean (also Elphaba Standby), Cristy Candler, Tiffany Haas, Stacie Morgain Lewis, Megan Sikora, Brianna Yacavonne, Robin Wilner, Amanda Rose, Lori Ann Ferreri, Katie Webber. 1st National Tour *Jenna Leigh Green (2005-2006) *Jennifer Waldman (2006) *Deedee Magno Hall (2006-2008) *Kristine Reese (2008-2009) *Amanda Rose (2009) *Brynn O'Malley (2009-2010) *Michelle London (2010) *Stefanie Brown (2010-present) Understudies: Maria Eberline, Laura Dyzsarcyk, Lori Holmes, Erin Davie, Chelsea Krombach, Marcie Dodd , Stefanie Brown, Kristine Reese, Lesley McKinnell, Emily Ferranti (current), Brenda Hamilton (current), Carla Stickler (current) Chicago Production *Heidi Kettenring (2005-2007, 2008-2009) *Summer Naomi Smart (2007-2008) London Production *Katie Rowley Jones (2006-2008) *Caroline Keiff (2008 - 2009) *Natalie Anderson (2009-2010) *Cassandra Compton (2010-2011) *Stevie Tate Bauer (2010; Temp.) *Zoe Rainey (2011-present) *Lillie Flynn (will replace on Dec. 12, 2011) Los Angeles Production *Jenna Leigh Green (2007) *Marcie Dodd (2007-2008) *Briana Yacavone (2008-2009) Stuttgart Production *Nicole Radeschnig (2007-2009) *Janine Tippl (2009-2010) Melbourne Production *Penny McNamee (2008-2009) San Francisco Production *Deedee Magno Hall (2009-2010) 2nd National Tour *Kristine Reese (2009-2010) *Michelle London (2010, Temp. 2010- Present) *Laurel Harris (2011-Present) Sydney Production *Penny McNamee (2009-2010) *Elisa Colla (2010) Oberhausen Production *Janine Tippl (2010-Present) External Links *[http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Wicked_Witch_of_the_East Nessarose-''Oz Wiki''] *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nessarose Nessarose-''Wikipedia''] Category:Characters of Wicked Category:Witches Category:Munchkin Category:Nessarose Thropp